At the end of fiscal year 2004, the federal debt of Country C is $278,560,125,000. What is the closest estimation of this amount? Express your answer in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10.

Question

(1 point)
02 × 1011
•
3 × 10-11
• 2.79 × 1011
3 × 1011

Answer 1

To estimate the federal debt of Country C, which is $278,560,125,000, we can express it in scientific notation.

First, we identify the significant figures in the number:

• The number is approximately 278 billion.

In scientific notation, we can express 278,560,125,000 as roughly \(2.7856 \times 10^{11}\), but we need to round it to one digit in front. Rounding \(2.7856\) gives us \(2.8\), but for closest to a single digit, we can consider \(2.79\) (if we are maintaining two significant digits).

Thus, the closest estimation in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10 would be:

\[ 2.79 \times 10^{11} \]

So, the correct answer is:

2.79 × 10^11.